A Guide to the Hench Papers pertaining to the Civil War, 1861-1865 #8474-u

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists chiefly of letters and miscellaneous documents pertaining to Union and Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Most of the letters are addressed to friends and family; among the subjects discussed are: prisoners of war [an 1863 diary of an imprisoned Union soldier is present]; requisition of supplies; Union and Confederate war efforts; runaway slaves [December 11, 1862]; camp life, black Union troops [mentioned in the foregoing prisoner's diary, September 1, 1863]; fossil skulls found near Williamsburg, Virginia [May 26, 1864]; examples of soldier humor [August 7 and December 15, 1863];and the reelection of Lincoln [December 8, 1864]. And, there are references to military hospitals: 3rd North Carolina Hospital [December 31, 1863], General Hospital No. 21, Richmond [February 15, 1865], Louisville, Kentucky [March 2, 1862], and U. S. General Hospital "Finley" [July 15, 1865].

The letters were written at or pertain to various Virginia locales: Richmond, Charlottesville, Fort Monroe, Hampton, Big Bethel, Belle Plain, Bristoe Station, Bermuda Hundred, Chaffin's Bluff, Winchester, Falmouth, and Westmoreland, Pendleton, and Highland counties. Among the other places either mentioned or described are Charleston, South Carolina; Arkansas; Wilmington, Delaware; Washington, D. C.; Kentucky; Lafayette, Indiana; Monroe, Louisiana; and Fort Columbus, New York Harbor.

Also present are documents relating to Generals Daniel Ruggles and John C. Robinson (1817-1897), and a letter of condolence to the wife of an officer killed during the battle of The Wilderness [May 19, 1864] from future rubber manufacturer Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. Several prominent individuals are mentioned throughout the collection: Henry Rootes Jackson; Thomas Hindman; Pierre G. T. Beauregard; John Tyler; Edmund Kirby Smith; James Dwight Dana (1813-1895), William Farrar Smith; Quincy Adams Gilmore; Benjamin F. Butler; Abraham Lincoln; George B. McClellan; and Philip A. Sheridan.

Battles are, of course, discussed by most of the correspondents: Prairie Grove, Arkansas [December 4, 1862]; First Manassas [July 21, 1861]; Munfordsville, Kentucky [September 27, 1862]; [Ambrose P.] Burnside's "Mud March" consequent to the battle of Fredericksburg [January 27, 1863]; Chancellorsville [May 4, 1863]; and The Wilderness [May 19, 1864. Various military units are mentioned, chiefly infantry regiments: 52nd Virginia; 46th and 162nd Virginia militia; 16th, 22nd, 24th, 77th, 151st, 169th New York; 11th Connecticut; 18th Michigan; 49th and 55th Ohio; 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry; U. S. Engineers; 14th U. S. Infantry, Second Battalion; 19th Iowa; Third Army Corps (headquarters).

Of special interest are several attractive illustrations of Union patriotic letterheads ("Onward To Victory!"): post July 21, 1861? and August 31, 1861; January 28, March 3, September 1 and December 11, 1862; March 9 and April 24, 1863; September 13, 1864; and June 5, n.y.

Contents List

THE CONFEDERACY

7 items

H.H. Harvey 1861 May 16

DS

Certifies receipt of ordnance/stores for Westmoreland County volunteers (via steamer Virginia ), from Colonel (later General) Daniel Ruggles [1810-1897], Virginia State Troops
Col. John Brown Baldwin [1820-1873], 52nd Virginia Infantry, Monterey, to Gen. Henry Rootes Jackson [1820-1898] 1861 Sep 14

ALS

Reports on situation in Highland County and his regiment (600 men present) -- 27 prisoners of in custody -- mentions Lt. Col. [H.F.] Fleisher and Col. George W. Hall of the 162nd regiment of Virginia militia [Third Division, 18th Brigade] -- mentions Pendleton County militia [46th Virginia militia, same division and brigade as 162nd] -- mentions protecting the northwest turnpike at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Cheat Mountain
William H. Henson to his sister 1862 May 3

ALS

Impassable roads near Charlottesville -- unable to leave his school -- teachers exempted from Confederate draft if they have 20 or more students
Ben, Van Buren, Arkansas, to his family 1862 Dec 4

ALS; this letter in ink and pencil

Hard life, no food except cornbread and less than first rate beef -- account of the battle of Prairie Grove [December 7, 1862] -- he did not participate], 450 prisoners, heavy Confederate losses; Union flag of truce to Gen. Thomas Hindman [1828-1868], 12 hour armistice granted
E.K. Witt, 3rd North Carolina Hospital, Charleston, South Carolina, to father 1863 Dec 31

ALS

Life as a hospital patient -- Christmas dinner -- deaths of patients
Printed Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, Richmond, Special Orders No. 180: Schedule A (prices for articles when purchased by the CSA government) and Schedule B ("Hire of Labor, Teams, Wagons and Drivers") 1864 Aug 1
George Washington Semple, Surgeon-in-Charge, General Hospital No. 21, Richmond, to W.M. Woodward 1865 Feb 15

Printed

Paid voucher for $820, food for prisoners of war (potatoes $25 per bushel; eggs, $10 per dozen)

THE UNION

27 items

Francis A. Engelhart, 16th New York Vols., Washington, to wife 1861 Jun 30

ALS; letterhead, woman with a flag

Left 18th New York Vols. to enlist with the 16th because he likes Col. Thomas A. Davies -- account of the regiment's journey (steamboat) from Albany to New York, Elizabethtown, Harrisburg, Baltimore, to Washington; mentions that a newspaper article about the regiment's travels in New York Tribune June 27 issue -- plans to visit the Capitol
James W. Barrett, Wilmington, Delaware, to "Aunt Phebe" 1861 July 21

ALS

Adolphus Brown's courting of her (via mails) -- JWB plans to visit her -- Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard [1818-1893] and the F.F.V.'s may attack at Manassas Junction today -- CSA's soldiers are brave but Yankees are capable warriors too
Unknown, Camp Oswego, 24th [New York?], July 21? Co. G, Washington, D.C., to wife Post 1861

ALS; letterhead, U.S. Capitol

On picket duty-hard life of a soldier-no tents, sleeps on ground -- Hopes army will do better at next battle [aftermath of First Bull Run, July 21, 1861?] -- rebels refused a flag of truce and threatened its messenger -- received his pay, sends her $10
John W. Doran, Camp Bates, Washington, to wife 1861 Aug 31

ALS; letterhead: man with flag "Onward to Victory!"

Journey of his regiment from Syracuse to Washington -- fears of brick throwing crowds in Baltimore [passage of Union troops on April 19-20, 1861 caused riots]
Francis A. Engelhart to wife 1862 Jan 28

ALS; letterhead: woman with flag

Boredom -- curses Rebels -- family matter
J.K. Duncan, 49th Ohio Vols., Camp Wood, Kentucky, to sister 1862 Feb 10

ALS

Hard freeze previous night -- picket duty -- mentions a Gen. McCook [Alexander McDowell 1831-1903 or Robert Latimer 1827-1862] who praised the regiment -- camp news
Ephraim Kelly, Lafayette, Indiana, to friend 1862 Mar 3

ALS; letterhead: man with flag

"now, work is plenty and skin is cheap" -- death of a soldier in Louisville, Kentucky, hospital -- various news
Clayton Budley(?), [a New York Regiment?], Camp Beardsley, to sister 1862 Sep 1

ALS; letterhead: a tree with Union flags for leaves

Mentions Waterloo and Seneca Falls, New York, and 22nd New York -- Rebel signal lights--says camp named in honor of William Beardsley of Auburn, chairman of War Committee -- camp news
A.H. Holt, Covington, Kentucky, to aunt and uncle 1862 Sep 27

ALS

Soldiers ill -- camp news -- 51 men of 18th Michigan were captured [as part of the Union garrison at Munfordsville who surrendered on Sept. 17, 1862] -- a sick man moans as Holt is writing this letter
William Martin [native of Norristown, Pennsylvania], Co. B, 11th Penn. Cavalry, Fort Monroe, to sister 1862 Dec 11

ALS; letterhead: Union flag

Sailing of Burnside's fleet last night [enroute to Fredericksburg] -- bad winter & roads -- describes guard duty routines -- mentions burnt town of Hampton, a Female Seminary, and the mansion of ex- President John Tyler [1790-1862] -- describes runaway slaves as "miserable-looking Devils"--mentions Big Bethel, Virginia--a captain has been dismissed, same fate likely for the colonel
Edward O'Brien, Belle Plain, to mother 1863 Jan 27

ALS

Account of Burnside's "Mud March" [January 19-24, 1863]
William Moore, Falmouth, to Mr. Thurman 1863 Feb 23

ALS

Mentions a speech and the weather
John Clemence, Co. F, 2nd Battalion, 14th U. S. Infantry, Camp Maradien Hill, Washington, to mother 1863 Mar 9

ALS; letterhead: eagle, drum, flag

Camp life, marching, Soldiers' Retreat [Soldier's Home], Baltimore, the capital, Potomac River
Brig. General John C. Robinson [1817-1897], Belle Plain, to Captain P.P. Pilkin, assistant quartermaster 1863 April 6

DS

Receipt for a horse
John Clemence, Co. F, 14th U.S. Infantry, Falmouth, to brother 1863 April 24

ALS; letterhead: eagle and flag

Promises to send his likeness [daguerreotype] -- no news
C.M.J., Headquarters, Third Army Corps, Falmouth, to "Dear Friend" [this is a very religious army captain] 1863 May 4

ALS

Suffers diarrhea, rheumatism, sore throat -- religious sentiments -- saw drunken officers at previous battle [Chancellorsville, May 1-4, 1863]
Diary of a Captain Thompson as a Nov 12 volume prisoner of war 1863 July 29

Unbound

Life in prison -- rations -- prices -- as a prisoner (August 9) -- mentions a group of CSA conscripts marching to join Edmund Kirby Smith's [1824-1893] army (August 4) -- plays a flute (August 5) -- mentions several Union officers and their regiments -- rumors of CSA triumphs (August 10) -- lice (August 13) -- says black Union troops defeated Confederates at Monroe, Louisiana (September 1) [this expedition took place August 20-28, 1863] -- arrival of a "bounty jumper" (September 29) -- wife's birthday, misses her (October 21) -- mentions a Lt. Wood of the 19th Iowa [a hotelkeeper in Fairfield, Jefferson County, prior to the war] (November 5)
Martin Shockey, Weaverville (?), to wife 1863 Aug

ALS

Comments on life as a soldier
S.C. Brown, Co. H, 55th Ohio, Bristoe Station, to Sarah Duncan 1863 Aug 27

ALS

A very humorous letter about battles, camp life -- camped at Orange and Alexandria Railroad, 30 miles from Washington
Otis, Fort Columbus, New York Harbor, to "chum" 1863 Dec 15

ALS

Recently released from Libby Prison [Richmond] -- comments about the "seduction" of marriage
Henry S. De Forest, [Chaplain] , 11th Connecticut Vols., Bermuda Hundred (via Fort Monroe), to a Prof. Nason(?) 1864 May 26

ALS

Refers to fossil shells and skulls he has sent to Yale; has discovered more near Williamsburg; Prof. [James Dwight, 1813-1895] Dana suspects they are from the Miocene epoch -- alludes to generals William Farrar "Baldy" Smith [1824-1903], Quincy Adams Gilmore [1825-1888] and Benjamin F. Butler [1818-1893] -- camp life -- Forest nearly killed while trying to identify a dead soldier
Benjamin Franklin Goodrich [1841-1888], Acting Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Engineer Troops, Virginia, to Mrs. C.C. Billings, Batavia, New York 1864 May 19

Informs her of the death of her husband, Captain [Cornelius C.] Billings [May 6, 1864, Wilderness Campaign], 151st New York Regt.
Henry S. De Forest, 11th Connecticut Vols., Bermuda Hundred, to a friend 1864 Sep 13

ALS; letterhead: U.S. Sanitary Commission

Camp life -- description of meals -- misses company of ladies
[Second Lieutenant] Thomas H.D. McGregor, 169th New York Vols., Chaffin's Bluff, to Jerrom B. Parmeter 1864 Oct 15

ALS

Discusses an individual named Kenner and his citizenship and payment for houses; a lawsuit
Edward Bouttelle, Winchester, to his sister, Emily S. Bouttelle, Tully, Onondaga County, New York 1864 Dec 8

ALS; envelope present

Soldiers pleased with Abraham Lincoln's [1809-1865] reelection -- George B. McClellan [1826-1885] considered to be "beneath a dog" -- Philip H. Sheridan [1831-1888] "is the pride of the army" -- Thanksgiving Day dinner [November 24, 1864] for the soldiers
Arrcosan(?), Surgeon, U.S.A. General Hospital "Finley," Washington, to commander officer, Co. D, 77th New York Vols. [Lt. Col. David J. Caw?] 1865 July 15

ADS

Surgeon's certificate of disability for Private Simeon W. Crosby
Frank to cousin (Perry) n.y. June 5

Letterhead: angel with a banner, "The Union Now Henceforth & For Ever Amen!"

This civilian describes farm life and his daily routine -- raptures of dreams and nature